One right in the bundle of copyrights is the exclusive right of a copyright owner to control copying of his or her copyrighted work. For example, the author of a book can grant a publisher the right to print 1,000 copies of the book. Purchasers of the book can dispose of their copy as they please; a library can loan its copy of the book to its patrons, and an individual purchaser can sell his or her copy to a friend. However, the library and the individual are prevented from making additional copies of the book without the author's permission.
Copyright protection extends to the digital realm, where copyright owners suffer considerable economic losses due to digital piracy. Digital rights management (DRM) technologies have been developed to counter unauthorized digital copying, but DRM policies can prevent people from performing legal activities, such as creating backup copies of CDs or DVDs or using copyrighted materials for education and research under fair use laws.
Physical documentation that commemorates transactions and agreement, such as contracts, bills and receipts have also found their way into the digital realm. With the increasing pervasiveness of e-commerce, more and more transactions are being made for which only electronic records of the transaction exist.